The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy
"The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy" is the fifth episode of the third season of Rick and Morty. It is the twenty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on August 20, 2017. It was written by Ryan Ridley and directed by Juan Meza-León. Synopsis Rick takes Jerry on an adventure at Morty's insistence. Beth's skills as a mother are put to the test, and Summer has body issues. Plot The episode begins with Jerry wallowing in his lonely new life. As he prepares to go to sleep, however, Rick suddenly bursts into his apartment and drags him outside naked on the promise of an intergalactic adventure, to Jerry's confusion. On the ride through space, Jerry questions Rick's motive for inviting him, to which Rick explains he only did so at Morty's behest, worried that his father might turn to suicide. Soon enough, the reluctant duo arrive at an intergalactic resort on another world. When Rick and a supposed enemy kill each other, then immediately come back to life, he explains to a shocked Jerry that the entire facility is surrounded by an immortality field, meaning that even if Jerry tried to kill himself while on their vacation, doing so would be impossible. After greatly enhancing his relationship with Rick, Jerry is quickly captured while using the resort's restroom and is brought before an actual enemy of Rick named Risotto Groupon, whose people were enslaved after Rick sold weapons to their enemies. With Jerry's help, he plans to assassinate Rick on a roller-coaster called the Whirly-Dirly, at the point where the ride travels outside the protective immortality field. When Jerry politely declines, Risotto allows him to leave unharmed. Meanwhile, as Beth builds a small sculpture out of horse hooves, Summer asks Beth if she is hot. Beth simply says her looks are not something she should focus on, causing Summer to describe herself as hideous and retreat to the garage. It's then revealed that a boy named Ethan has broken up with her, claiming it was because they no longer had anything in common, and began dating another girl called Tricia Lange. Summer is convinced Ethan really chose Tricia over her because Tricia had larger breasts. She then tries to enlarge her breasts using Rick's Morphizer-XE, but ends up becoming a disproportionate giant trapped inside the garage. Morty and Beth realize the Morphizer-XE was responsible and Morty wants to call Rick back to resolve the situation. Beth, however, insists she can solve the problem without her father's help, to which Morty berates her for trying to be like Rick. Beth tries to bring Summer back to normal proportions, which brings her back to normal body proportions, but also makes her larger than the house. Considering it progress, Beth rashly soldiers on and ends up turning Summer inside out. Jerry continues to drink with Rick, however during the conversation Rick admits that he was essentially the whole reason Beth broke up with him. His new view of Rick now shattered, Jerry invites Rick to join him on the Whirly-Dirly. However while on the ride Rick apologizes for breaking up the marriage and a guilty Jerry tries to change his mind, but can't get Rick off the ride before it begins. After Jerry is shot and revived, Rick notices the assassins behind him and fights back, sending the roller coaster crashing into the surrounding jungle and deactivating the resort's immortality field in the process. Learning of Jerry's involvement from a severely wounded assassin, Rick refuses to help as Jerry is slowly eaten alive by a massive alien snake, with Jerry denouncing Rick as a "self-righteous asshole" who stole his family. Rick volleys back by calling Jerry a predator who uses his pitiful nature as an attempt to control others, citing that he ruined Beth's life by making her feel sorry that he got her pregnant, and was thus forced to give up her life for Jerry (Rick saying that, as his daughter, she "had options."). As Jerry is about to be digested, Rick finally kills the snake and saves him, only to then use him as bait for another alien creature fast enough to take them back to the resort. Back on Earth, Beth calls the machine's "technical support." Unfortunately, it turns out the three (tiny) tech support workers actually live inside the machine and trick Beth into freeing them. Beth and Morty have a furious argument, during which Morty points out that "Kissing Rick's ass isn't gonna help keep him around, Mom, but it will help you lose everyone else". Both of them then realize that Summer has disappeared. Morty deduces Summer has gone to Camp Wabanaba where she and Ethan were supposed to go camping, but where he has taken Tricia instead. Morty tests the Morphizer on random objects as they drive to the campsite until he knows how to use the device. Beth decides to turn herself inside out to make Summer feel better about herself. Summer appears to Ethan and Tricia, terrifying them, and is then startled to see Beth, also large and inside out. The two reconcile and Tricia is so touched she runs home to make peace with her own mother. Morty then aims the Morphizer-XE at Ethan and the two discuss his breakup with Summer and its ramifications. While traveling through a checkpoint for a spaceship heading off-world, a security guard injects Rick, who is believed to be a terrorist threat and revealed to have secret cybernetic augmentations , with a synaptic dampener to reduce his intelligence to that of a small child. Jerry quickly takes advantage of the child-like Rick, belittling him the whole time. Risotto unfortunately catches up during this time and is ready to shoot Rick while he's too dumb to do anything. Risotto decides to let Jerry go, but not out of any compassion but because he feels that Jerry is a pathetic excuse of a man and would prefer not to waste the bullet. Jerry, determined to prove himself, attempts to fight off Risotto but fails miserably. Risotto changes his mind and decides to shoot Jerry, too. However, Jerry causes Risotto to shoot an important piece of paneling just as the spaceship passes through a wormhole. Space, time and matter all combine, causing Rick, Jerry and Risotto to all merge and experience each others thoughts and personalities for what feels like a moment and an eternity. After emerging, all feel changed by the experience and Risotto considers forgiving Rick. However, Rick, now free of the effects of the synaptic dampener, just steals his gun using his cybernetic arm implants and shoots him dead anyway, as Rick believed he Rosotto was just going to change his mind and try to kill them again. After that, Rick and Jerry go home and agree to leave out the parts of the adventure that make them look bad. Jerry claims that making people feel pity for him will no longer be his signature move from now and Rick bids Jerry farewell, only to promptly lock the doors and setting up deadly countermeasures to keep him out. Watching how happy his family is without him, Jerry sadly walks home. In a post-credits scene, a heavily deformed Ethan is seen walking home, presumably by Morty for hurting Summer and as a lesson in shallowness. The three tech support aliens spot him, but decide not to help due to their newfound freedom. Their relief turns to horror, however, when one is carried away by an eagle. Characters Major Characters *Rick Sanchez *Jerry Smith *Summer Smith * Beth Smith * Morty Smith Minor Characters * Risotto Groupon * Ethan * Tricia Lange * Shnoopy Bloopers * Morphizer customer service creatures * Shmooglite Runner * Gibble Snake * Gene * Tusked Assassin * Lisa * Lisa's Brother * Jessica (mentioned) * Mailman * Birdperson (cameo) Deaths * 2 unnamed assassins * Lisa * Gibble Snake * Risotto Groupon * 1 unnamed Morphizer customer service creature Episode notes Trivia *In celebration of Season 3, Pocket Mortys' weekly updates will coincide with new episodes, including new avatars for players to collect. With the release of this episode came: Spiritual Leader Rick, Victorian Jerry, Risotto Groupon, Inside Out Beth, Inside Out Summer, Shnoopy Bloopers, and Victorian Rick as avatars, and Master Morty, Poorhouse Morty and Chimney Sweep Morty to catch. * The scene where Rick drags Jerry out of his bed naked is an homage and parody to the pilot episode's opening scene where Rick did this to Morty. ** Rick in this scene continues his habit of breaking the fourth wall as he's done in other episodes when he says the current episode is a "Rick and Jerry adventure/episode!". * It is revealed that Rick has cybernetic implants in a majority of his body. These implants appear to be located in all of his limbs, his left eye, part of his brain, and part of a system within his chest. **This likely explains some of physical attributes for a man his age. **This could also be due to the events in The Rickshank Rickdemption, where Rick switches minds with Quantum Rick from the former Citadel of Ricks. * Jerry lives at room 826 of his apartment block. * It appears that Summer has gained a wide amount of knowledge about Rick's garage, knowing the secret code to certain compartments and not being frightened by the abundance of extreme scientific contraptions (including a box with a trapped green entity). * The code to unlock the compartment behind Rick's billboard involves moving the only un-connected pin to the bottom-righthand corner of the blue piece of paper. * In the TV broadcast, until the last few minutes, the word "shit" is bleeped out, whereas in airings of the earlier episodes, it's been uncensored. * During a sequence when female Rick is nursing a little alien, there is a little bust of Beth and little Birdperson in the background. Series continuity * Following the events of The Rickshank Rickdemption, Jerry is still separated from Beth in this episode, and still lives alone in his apartment. * Arcade Alien can be seen in the Restaurant where Rick and Jerry are drinking. * Beth still tries to prove herself worthy of Rick's love as it was shown in "Pickle Rick." * Summer's relationship with Ethan from "Anatomy Park" comes to an end in this episode. * Morty references his love interest for Jessica when he states that his daughter will be hot because her mother will be Jessica. * Above Jerry's bed in his apartment, there is a picture of the Titanic, a reference to his obsession with the ship and also the film. The same picture is shown to be in the Smith family's recreation room throughout seasons 1 and 2 such as its appearance in Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind . This also comes as a reference to the episode Ricksy Business where the plot revolved around his fascination with the Titanic. * During the episode, the Interdimensional Cable Box can still be seen in the background, following the episode "Rixty Minutes." * Rick's cybernetic components were first be seen in the background of his antics during the episode "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender." * The cracks around the house are still visible after the events of the episode Ricksy Business. * The mailman who appeared in "M. Night Shaym-Aliens!" can be seen again, seemingly killed by a giant falling mailbox. ** Justin Roiland confirmed him being "alive and well". * Rick's nonchalant reaction to having endured a temporal lapse is further evidence of his extensive journeys across the cosmos, seeing such an existential occurrence as "trivial" rather than life-changing. * While Rick is under the effects of the "synaptic dampener" he bears a strong resemblance to Jerry. Rick remarks about his desire to eat cookies and watch James Cameron's Avatar ''which is similar to Jerry's love of junk food and Jerry's obsession with another James Cameron film ''The Titanic. Cultural reference * The entire scene where Summer enlarges through the Morphine XE to the point where she destroys the garage is a reference and parody to Alice In Wonderland. Her attack and journey towards Ethan and Tricia could also be seen as a reference to films such as Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. * Summer enlarging herself, going on a rampage and Beth having to become enlarged to stop her is a reference to the film Honey I Blew Up The Kid which follows the same storyline but with a baby instead of a teenage girl. * Jeff Goldblum is also referenced as a joke which both Rick and Jerry agree on, where Rick says "Yo what's up, Big Chill! Don't go into that tele-pod!". This is a reference to the movie The Fly, where Jeff Goldblum's appearance becomes severely altered after combing with a fly. This is referenced due to the ugly nature of some aliens which both Rick and Jerry recognize as Jeff Goldblum's face. * During the trip through the temporal field, a lot of cultural imagery appears, particularly in the form of religious images (including Baphomet and satanic images) and conspiracies (including the all-seeing eye). ** It is interesting to note that these ideas are a combination of Rick and Risotto's minds, where Jerry claims he 'understands' Rick better due to these images. This would imply that these conflicts and interests in these areas for Rick (and/or possibly Risotto) are what define his motives or play a large part of his life. *** This can be further seen when Jerry asks, "Am I dead? Am I still alive?", to which Rick's consciousness responds, "Those aren't the questions you should be asking". This suggests that Rick's mind has transcended past the confines of 'life and death', as a result making him wise and defining him. * Ethan's punishment of augmented bodily horror imposed by Morty may be a reference to the 1967 science-fiction short story I have no Mouth and I must Scream, written by Harlan Ellison. * The Whirly-Dirly and its destruction is possibly a reference to the time travel machine from the 1997 movie Contact. * The scenes where Summer and later Beth had themselves enlarged and then turned their skin inside-out is a reference to the design of Colossus from the anime Attack On Titan. * While Morty is talking to Beth, he is reading a New England Magazine with two lighthouses on the front and back cover. The lighthouse on the left resembles Bender from Futurama. * Risotto Groupon bears a strong resemblance to the main antagonist in Toy Story 3, with the scene where he meets Jerry also being quite similar. Transcript View a full transcript of this episode here. 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